In connection with my desire to fully keep up with the J-pop industry, I’m planning to do a weekly round-up of any new releases that have caught my ear. Some of these may have been covered on the blog already, but my hope is that this will become a one-stop shop for anyone interested in what’s new in J-pop.

With that in mind, here’s where you come in: I’m one person with one set of musical preferences, so please embed any other new J-pop tracks you’ve enjoyed in the comments so we can get a fuller spectrum each week.

*And just like I do with my reviews, I’ll wait until full versions of songs are available before posting them in this round-up. This will mostly apply to Johnny’s groups, who still limit the majority of their YouTube uploads to shorter, edited versions.

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2023 Index

2024 Index: Dec 24 – Jan 6 // Jan 7 – Jan 13

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THIS WEEK: Jan 14 – Jan 20

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Asaka – WaYaWaYaWa−!

A fun little bop.

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Boku ga Mitekatta Aozora – Kimi no Tame no Uta

I feel like this group hasn’t yet found the song to set them apart from their contemporaries. This is very enjoyable if not groundbreaking.

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GARNiDELiA – Ten

I haven’t yet listened to GARNiDELiA’s new album, but I’ve liked what I’ve heard so far. This almost feels like an intro, and as the opening track I guess that makes sense!

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Genic – Sayonara no Wake / I’ll Be There (song of the week!)

I wrote about Sayonara no Wake here and liked it a lot. Album track I’ll Be There was also released this week. It’s pretty standard J-OST fare, but I’ve been so starved for new upbeat Genic music that I’ll gladly take it!

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iScream – Heart of Gold

I keep waiting for the iScream track that totally grabs me. I don’t think we’re there yet, but this is a fine mid-tempo.

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The Jet Boy Bangerz – Photogenic

Still not feeling any of these new-gen Exile Tribe groups. It’s too close to (bad) K-pop.

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JO1 x INI x DXTEEN – Love All Star

A team-up of all the Lapone boy groups. Each have songs I love. This is perfectly upbeat but a little empty.

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Kroi – Sesame

A little unhinged in a good way.

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Mrs. Green Apple – Nachtmusik

A striking ballad.

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OCTPATH – Octave

The latest in a long line of songs with a great beat but lousy hooks. Write a proper chorus, people!

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One Love One Heart – Aise, Shigoku Sanzan na Bokura no Hi wo (song of the week!)

I wrote about this here and loved it. It honestly gets more addicting each time I hear it.

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Psychic Fever – Just Like Dat (ft. JP The Wavy)

I wish we could get more songs like last year’s harmonic and melody-rich Baku Baku from them.

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SennaRin – Nod

Very much a standard Hiroyuki Sawano production. That means it’s got a great chorus and rhythm, but there’s not a lot to make this stand out among similar efforts.

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Sandal Telephone – Shangri-La

I like this even more than last week’s Sparkle. It’s got a great chugging beat.

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Takane no Nadeshiko – Utsukushiku Ikiro

I mainly wanted to share this to mention how obsessed I’ve become with their 2023 single Kakumei No Jyoou. This one isn’t nearly as good, but I still like it.

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Takanori Iwata – Just You And Me

Funky in places, too slow in others.

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Unlame – Unlame

That group name! Seriously.

Also, this is pretty good.

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This week’s old favorite:

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Lazy Knack -Tomadowazu Furimawakazu (1996)

I imported a used copy of this album this week and have been obsessed with many of the songs. This is such a banger. Daisuke Asakura’s production strikes again!